While I was studying raw food, I had the honour of taking a weekend class from Chad Sarno.
During one of the lunch breaks, he was sitting on a couch, surrounded by students, mixing a bowl of powders. To his bowl, he added a little of this and a little of that and, presto magic, he’d made amazing raw chocolate chip cookies. Were they freshly baked out of the oven tasting? No. But they were super yummy and had a distinct flavour that captured good ole chocolate chip cookies.
As he was mixing the ingredients, I remember it transporting me back to childhood when the aromas from my moms’ baking filled the kitchen and Sunday morning trips to the local bakery with my dad. It’s amazing what a beautiful rush of feelings he was able to create through making something as simple as raw chocolate chip cookies.
As simple as they seemed, it was hard to wrap our heads around what made them taste so much like chocolate chip cookies. Chad went around the room asking each of us to name the ingredients—no one could figure them out. He is rather ingenious when it comes to understanding what people associate with cooked, traditional foods. Sure, consistency plays a role, but it’s the spices and the powders you use and how they work together that really creates that authentic flavour.
With his permission to use and alter his great recipe, I bring you Easy Nut-Free Raw Chocolate Chip Cookies.
Dry
60g ( ⅓ cup ) lucuma
75g ( ½ cup ) oat flour ( oat free version, sub out oats for almond flour or ground almonds )
30g ( ¼ cup ) mesquite
5g (1 tbsp ) cinnamon
2g (1 tsp ) vanilla powder
⅛ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
Wet
85g (¼ cup ) honey
20g (2 tbsp ) water
60g (¼ cup ) cacao butter, melted
30g (2 tbsp ) cacao nibs or cacao paste, chopped
Method
- In a food processor, blend the dry ingredients to combine.
- Add the liquids and pulse just to bring together.
- You can either add your nibs or chopped paste /chocolate bar and pulse the mix again to combine, or you can add them in by hand in a mixing bowl..
Forming the Cookies
There are three ways to form the cookies:
- Press the dough into a silicone mould of your choice, pop them in the fridge to set and then release from the mould and enjoy.
- Use a mini ice cream scooper to form the mixture into rough balls and then set them just like that—all rough and tumble like. These would be perfect dipped in chocolate.
- Moisten your hands and form the dough into rough cookie shapes (as seen in the image below ) This way they look a bit more like a “normal” baked cookie, if you will.
- Pop them onto a mesh dehydrator sheet and dry for 2-4 hours just to crisp the outside. Eaten right out of the dehydrator, they’re akin to being straight out of the oven… only not so hot that you can’t scarf them!
